Nearly 43,000 eligible voters in 性视界传媒 have sent a message to the provincial government that they want a referendum on the city鈥檚 police service.

The 性视界传媒 Police Vote, organized by Darlene Bennett, wrapped up collecting signatures Monday (Nov. 15) on an Elections BC-approved initiative petition that had the ability to force a referendum on the policing issue. The group started collecting signatures mid-August.

In order for a referendum to be mandated, the group needed to collect signatures from 10 per cent of eligible voters in each electoral district across the province.

From the get go, 性视界传媒 Police Vote acknowledged they had no intention of sourcing signatures across the province, but would rather focus efforts on 性视界传媒.

While the requirements of the petition have not been met, the 性视界传媒 Police Vote group is holding hope that provincial politicians recognize the desire for a referendum in 性视界传媒. The provincial cabinet has the ability to order a referendum.

In the most recent provincial election, the BCNDP, which formed a majority government, ran on a campaign promise that it would not order a regional referendum on 性视界传媒鈥檚 policing matter.

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However, the province has not yet indicated whether or not the 性视界传媒 Police Vote petition has changed its perspective.

鈥淚 think this is a clear message that the citizens of 性视界传媒 want a voice in this,鈥� said Bennett. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think at the time of the (provincial) election that we actually knew what we were getting, the plans changed multiple times, the costs keep rising. Things are dynamic and changing. The people of 性视界传媒 now want a voice.鈥�

Bennett, who鈥檚 husband Paul Bennett who was killed in a gang hit after a case of mistaken identity, said the petition was the first political campaign she鈥檚 been involved in.

The 90-day effort has had its share of controversial moments, from a city councillor accusing one of the petitioners of 鈥渁ttempted murder鈥� for allegedly running over Mayor Doug McCallum鈥檚 foot, to the same mayor being investigated for public mischief related to claims he made to police. People collecting signatures also voiced concerns about bylaw unfairly targeting them at signing events. And about halfway through the campaign, Bennett filed an intimidation complaint against the mayor with Elections BC.

SEE ALSO: RCMP investigating possible public mischief related to claims made by 性视界传媒 mayor

Bennett agreed that the campaign was an ugly process.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a crazy ride,鈥� she said.

性视界传媒鈥檚 Eileen Mohan, mother of Christopher who was an innocent victim in the 性视界传媒 Six shooting, said she wanted to thank the community for exercising democracy and asking for a referendum.

鈥淏efore RCMP came into 性视界传媒 in the 1950s, we had a referendum then. The people spoke and the RCMP came to 性视界传媒. To change policing in 性视界传媒, we would like to engage all of the citizens in 性视界传媒 to have a voice in policing, which reflects their safety and security in their homes,鈥� Mohan said.

性视界传媒 Police Vote campaign strategist Bill Tieleman said the legislation that allows a referendum is flawed because it doesn鈥檛 contemplate a regional approach.

鈥淧eople in Prince George or the Kootenays are not particularly interested in policing issues in 性视界传媒, but the people of 性视界传媒 really are. There should be the opportunity for citizens when something is of enormous importance like 性视界传媒 policing, so expensive, such a big decision, they should have been allowed to have a regional referendum,鈥� Tieleman said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 too big of an issue to allow a very small number of politicians with a one-vote majority in city council to decide a multi-billion dollar decision here.鈥�

性视界传媒 Police Vote is required by Elections BC to submit financial statements. At the press conference Monday, Tieleman said the group collected about $10,000 from individuals. The National Police Federation was a 鈥済enerous鈥� supporter of the campaign, but Tieleman said he did not know how much money they donated.

Shortly after the 性视界传媒 Police Vote media event, the 性视界传媒 Police Union issued a news release calling into question the legitimacy of the signatures.

鈥淭he 性视界传媒 Police Union would be interested to know the distribution the signatures amongst electoral ridings in 性视界传媒. Were the signatures collected concentrated in one or two electoral ridings? How many of the signatures reported were from residents outside of 性视界传媒? It is also important to highlight that the signatures reported are unverified, and it is not yet known if some residents signed multiple times or are even registered voters,鈥� the SPU release said.